The bread is fluffy, moist and has just a touch of lemon in every bite. There’s 2 cups of grated zucchini baked into the bread which makes for a beautiful bread with subtle specks of green. On top there’s a lemon powdered sugar glaze which everyone will love!

This bread is a delicious winner. It’s amazing for breakfast, a afternoon snack or dessert. You can eat it all day long!

Delicious Monkey Bread Muffins are easy to make with refrigerated biscuits! They are a single serving alternative to Monkey Bread in muffin form!

I’ve been hearing alot about Monkey Bread on all the blogs but I never really knew what Monkey Bread was. When I first heard of it I was expecting something that looked like a monkey, but I didn’t see anything that looked like a primate. So I looked up where the word Monkey Bread comes from and here is what Wikipedia told me:

The origin of the term “monkey bread” is uncertain.

Thanks alot.

Here is what else I learned:

Monkey bread is also called monkey puzzle bread, sticky bread, African coffee cake, golden crown, pinch-me cake, pluck-it cake, bubbleloaf and monkey brains.
It first appeared in cookbooks in the 1950s.
It’s mostly popular in the United States.

Ok what about about the name? Most of my results were helpless, but here’s what I could put together.
There is a African tree called the Monkey Bread tree that has an exceedingly thick trunk and an edible pulp. Some people think that Monkey Bread is named after the tree as it slightly resembles it. Squint, do you see a hot baked good?
Some people believe Monkey Bread gets its name from monkeys. When eating monkey bread, people usually tear it apart with their fingers, much like how monkeys eat. Note: This is a pretty accurate expression of how I look when I eat monkey bread, pure happiness.

So did I solve where the name comes from? Probably not, but I tried!

So with hearing all about Monkey Bread, I was on the mission to make it for the first time! I gathered all the supplies, got my apron on, looked at some pictures and then realized they were all made with bundt cake pans, which I don’t have. I shook my fist to the ceiling, slumped to the floor and sighed. And then like Aaliyah sung, I dusted myself off and tried again, because I thought – what about Monkey Bread Muffins? This rules for many reasons, but most being that I can physically tell myself only to eat one. With a entire cake, I can slide the knife and make a slice really big, but with individual servings, there’s really no excuse for my behavior when I am throwing 4 of them in my mouth. And within one bite of the first one I realized this was a fantastic idea because my life has been changed forever and I would love to eat 4 of these at once.

So to summarize I have no idea where the word Monkey Bread comes from, but I’m in love with it and would like to invite it to live with us indefinitely.

Rip each biscuit into 6 pieces, you don’t have to be exact with sizes, just make them about even.

Get your cinnamon sugar mixture in a bag. Then put the ripped up biscuits inside and shake to coat evenly.

Then start to fill each muffin cup up with about 8-10 pieces. Into the oven it goes..

And out of the oven comes this magic!

OOOOH!

AHHHH!

Now here’s the scary part. We need to flip these upside down. I know, you’re already scared, trust me I was too. I thought about this in my head about 6x since I read multiple reviews that said they would fall apart. That’s why it’s really important you spray your muffin sheet good with nonstick spray.

So you turn your muffin cup sheet upside down. Take a minute to breathe. Take a minute to hope. Take a minute to remove your cat who can smell these muffins. Then slowly lift the muffin sheet up…

Yes! Perfect! None fell apart. I grabbed Essy the cat and danced with her. She rumbled her belly so I put her down.

Goodness gracious. I’m not sure I can say more. I think I’m just going to say that a few more times.

Goodness gracious.

Goodness gracious.

Serve immediately hot and enjoy!

You can also store these as they will last a few days, but good luck in not eating them. 🙂

Homemade 15 MINUTE Strawberry Peach Jam recipe that makes a small batch 8 oz jar without pectin! This healthy, easy recipe is a low sugar jam made with honey that makes a perfect jam for toast, dessert and more. I love canning this recipe too!

Today we are making Strawberry Peach Jam. I am a lunatic in never letting fruits or vegetables go to waste, I will find something to do with them always. I had a peach that had a short life span but you better believe it – this peach was not going to waste! So instead of making my usual strawberry jam, I decided to give it a peach twist! The outcome is delicious! And the smell! It smells like Summer!

My favorite jam recipes are quick. I don’t like hanging out over the stove for 2 hours stirring jam in the Summer. This recipe is quick and is ready in 15 minutes including preparing and cooking. This 15 Minute Strawberry Peach Jam makes 8 oz of jam. Eat all of it. Give some to a friend. Eat all of it. Eat all of it. Eat all of it. Enjoy!

Delicious White Chocolate Chip Cookies made with Candy Corn Oreos. They are perfect for a Halloween seasonal cookie! These cookies are high on the addictive scale, I dare you to eat just one!

So let me tell you a secret, maybe it’s not a secret. Around Halloween Oreo releases limited edition Candy Corn Oreo Cookies. They might only be sold at Target, I’m not sure, but that’s the only place I know that sells them. Last year I went to Target 3 times a week for the entire month of October and they were sold out every single time. The employees told me people were buying multiple packs. I could not get one. I was devastated. So imagine my incredible happiness when I saw them in Target last week. I started crying in the cookie aisle. I slid to the ground, cookies in my arm, hugging them tightly, crying out loudly “I LOVE YOU!”. Target asked me to leave, but first I bought the cookies. Even the cashier saw the cookies and gave me a look like “girl”. And I gave her a look back that said “girl”. That’s a good look by the way.

So if you are reading this post, I ask you to PLEASE find these cookies. Set your goal for the next 2 months to find these Oreo cookies. They should be very high up there on the priority list. Actually they should be top priority. Bills, education, kids, work, whatever. CANDY CORN OREO COOKIES = #1.

Here they are, in all their glory. This is how many was left by the time I got to this recipe. I’m just going to warn you right now. I am a crazy Oreo addict when it comes to limited edition like Candy Corn, Gingerbread (omg dont even get me started) and Birthday Cake. I will eat them all in 1 day. I am horrible. I tell Matthew sometimes when he leaves the house to take them with him (seriously). Or I tell him to hide them. Then when he leaves I tear the apartment apart to find them. They make me crazy. So if you have these cookies in your house, you might go crazy. I mean in a good “these are so delicious I’m going to cry” crazy way.

Cream together butter and sugars.

Stir in your white chocolate chips. You can use regular chocolate chips if you’d like but I don’t think the appearance of the cookie will be as cute as the brown will be too overwhelming.

Then break up your Oreo cookies and eat it with a spoon. HAHAHAHAHAH just kidding. HAHAHAHAHA not kidding at all. HAHAHAHAHAH just kidding. HAHAHAHAHA not kidding at all. HAHAHAHAHAH just kidding. HAHAHAHAHA not kidding at all. HAHAHAHAHAH just kidding. HAHAHAHAHA not kidding at all. Ok, just take a quick spoonful!

Then mix the cookies and chocolate chips up good. Eat it with a spoon. HAHAHAHAHAH just kidding. HAHAHAHAHA not kidding at all. Ok, just take a quick spoonful! I’m sorry, I am a really bad influence.

Warning, these cookies expand! Just like they will expand your heart (and other things) they will get bigger. This was before..

This was after baking. See, how they grew. I let them cool and then easily ran a knife through to cut them up. Worked perfect.

So please make these.

Thank you Oreo Cookies for all the comfort you’ve given me over the years.
I love you forever,
Pamela

I am kinda in love with these popsicles. And because they are healthy, I can totally eat as many as I want a day with no regrets! Isn’t that the best?

These popsicles have watermelon, strawberry, lime and mint in them. As a sweetener you can leave as is or you can add a little honey (that’s what I did). With the fruit already sweet, you don’t’ need much additional honey – a little goes a long way. And can we talk about how easy they are? You just throw the ingredients in a food processor, pulse it, pour into popsicle molds and freeze. Boom, done! Amazing!

100 CALORIE Single Serving Brownie is my favorite dessert and breakfast! This easy microwave recipe makes a healthy single serving chocolate brownie that tastes delicious! These brownies are so soft, perfect for satisfying a sweet tooth!

If you’re like me then when you make brownies, it’s a batch. There’s 2 of us who live here and the cats can’t eat chocolate, so what do I have to do? Ok, I have to eat them all. I mean if not, they go bad and we wouldn’t want that. I mean, ok, I could share with friends, but I could also not share with friends and just eat them all myself. This is great, but also very bad. So what do you do when you want a brownie but you don’t want to make a entire batch to prevent the guilt? You make single serving 100 calorie brownies! You microwave them and they’re done in a minute.

These will hit your chocolate craving without the guilt – isn’t that the best?

A few more random thoughts on these brownies:

They are really good. Last winter these were our post dinner, dessert favorites.

If you want to make your brownie slightly more creamy, then add a teaspoon of Nutella. Yes the calories will go up a bit, but it’s still much healthier than the usual brownie.

Did you guys know how easy powdered sugar is to make? I had no idea! I always like to sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top of my sweets. For 1 cup of powdered confectioners sugar: 1 cup regular sugar + 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Just blend it up until it’s powdery. Boom! Powdered Sugar!

Here’s your dry ingredients.

Here’s all the ingredients mixed up. Into the microwave it goes for 1 minute…

Out comes a brownie that will change your life. Worship this brownie!
Enjoy your 100 Calorie Single Serving Brownie!

Print

100 Calorie Single Serving Brownie

100 CALORIE Single Serving Brownie is my favorite dessert and breakfast! This easy microwave recipe makes a healthy single serving chocolate brownie that tastes delicious! These brownies are so soft, perfect for satisfying a sweet tooth!

Ingredients

1tablespoonflour

1tablespoonsugar

1tablespooncocoa powder

2tablespoonsof apple sauce

pinchof baking soda

pinchof salt

Instructions

Mix all the ingredients up.

Put in microwave for 1-1:15 minutes.

Put a little bit of powdered sugar on top. (*Optional*)

Eat it up!

Recipe Notes

If you want it a little more creamy, add a teaspoon of Nutella. Yes, the calories will go up a bit, but this will knock your socks off, and it’s still healthier than the usual versions.

Chocolate Spinach Brownies with Peanut Butter Frosting recipe. This is a sneaky way to get kids or adults to eat their vegetables. You won’t believe how delicious these brownies are! They’re also made with the best peanut butter frosting recipe ever!

The color green. What do you think of?

In many people’s minds, the color green isn’t something you usually think of when you think of sweet desserts. I hear that little kids fear their green vegetables so sneaky parents have to find ways to incorporate it into their meals. Well I don’t have a little kid, but I still like being sneaky, even if it means just being sneaky to myself.

Spinach Brownies.

What am I going to do with you?

As soon as I picked the New Zealand Spinach multiple people asked what kind of sweet was I going to make with it since they know I like mixing vegetables into treats (see: avocado brownies, pumpkin brownies). So I decided to keep it simple and keep the brownie tradition alive. The brownie tradition should never end. Can you imagine a world without brownies? I surely cannot!

I have to say I was unsure about how these brownies were going to turn out. I had some experience with spinach treats as I baked these spinach cupcakes which are still one of my baking highlights because everyones eyes are shocked after I tell them (after they declare how delicious it was) it’s full of spinach. I was worried because of the amount of spinach that are in these brownies, 1 whole cup pureed, which equals about 4-5 cups raw. That is a large amount of spinach. But as soon as I poured the spinach puree, gave it a few twirls with my spoon then tasted it, worries were erased. 100%. Can you taste the spinach? The short answer is sort of. The long answer is not really. I like spinach, I know what it tastes like, so I can pick up a slight spinach taste. But for those who are unaware there is spinach in them, or don’t often eat spinach, they will pass it off as “dark chocolate” tasting. I think that’s the best way to describe them, dark. If you store them in the refrigerator so they remain set and cold, the spinach taste is pretty much all gone. We’ve been eating them this way as a cold brownie and my oh my, it’s delicious!

Another first, usually when I make brownies I leave them “as is”. But I’ve been seeing alot of brownies with frosting and if you’re making a chocolate brownie, why not go that extra step and throw more sweetness on it with some frosting? So I decided peanut butter frosting because peanut butter can go with anything (including spinach – who knew). Let’s just take a minute, hold hands and thank the peanut butter frosting for how good it is. I made a batch of this and I put so many spoonfuls in my mouth before even getting to the brownies that I feel that I might have to lay down (and then go running). But goodness, this frosting is it. Boom. Done. Never making another peanut butter frosting again. This is it. Thank you frosting. Thank you!

Take your spinach leaves and put them in the food processor with 1-2 tablespoons of water and pulse until it turns into a puree. Keep doing this until you get 1 full cup of spinach puree. This usually equals about 4-5 cups raw spinach leaves.

Mix melted butter, brown sugar and sugar together in a bowl. Stir in melted chocolate chips, spinach puree and vanilla.

A little at a time, add your dry flour mixture to your chocolate spinach mixture, stirring continuously until it's all smooth.

Pour batter in 8x8 pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until your toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Put butter and peanut butter in a bowl and mix with electric mixer.

Slowly pour in your powdered sugar a little at a time. When it starts to thicken, add your 2 tablespoons milk in and continue to mix. You should keep mixing for about 2-3 minutes until your frosting is fluffy. If it's still thick, add a additional tablespoon of milk if needed.

You might have seen on Twitter, but I was demanding that people remove this fudge from me. Demanding as in “Please take this fudge away from me!”. I told Matthew “Get it out of here”, so he tried and I held the fudge pan so tight with tears in my eyes moaning “Don’t take the fudge from me”. So he didn’t, and I ate more. And then I said “Please take this fudge away from me!”. This cycle happens every single night.

Last night after a yummy green pepper lasagna it was dessert time. So we got out the fudge pan. Matthew passed me a piece of fudge when innocent little me proclaimed “That’s way too big, please cut it in half”. Oh look at me, I’m so dainty. 2 minutes later, I was exclaiming “Where’s that other half! Add the crumbs too! I see crumbs on the bottom of the pan! Put them on top! Shovel it in my mouth!”. From proper to monstrous in 2 minutes, that’s what this fudge will do for you.

The first thing I had to make with our fresh pumpkin harvest from the garden was pumpkin pie brownies. I had such a great success with my avocado peanut butter chocolate brownies that pumpkin brownies were next on the list!

This recipe is so easy because it only involves 4 ingredients: brownie mix, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and chocolate chips. If you notice there’s no butter, eggs or vegetable oil in these brownies. The pumpkin puree takes care of all of that! The pumpkin adds moisture to your brownies so there’s no need to add those other fattening ingredients. Pumpkin puree is healthy too! 1 cup of pure pumpkin is 49 calories! Pumpkin is rich in dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins (vitamin-A, vitamin-C and vitamin-E). Did I mention it’s delicious too? Because it really is!

These brownies are super fudgy. Warning: If you love pumpkin pie and chocolate, once you eat one of these brownies you will enter a magical world. I also find that people who aren’t huge pumpkin fans also love these brownies due to how moist and chocolatey they are. They really are a hit all around for the brownie crowd.

“Best”. I know that’s pretty bold, but this applesauce is just that good. After eating the first spoonful I nearly fell to the floor in tears. Where has this applesauce been my entire life? The recipe is pretty basic with just apples, sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of lemon juice. You can have this in your belly in about 15 minutes which adds bonus points to the process. After I made this applesauce I’m finding it hard to ever go back to the jarred version, it’s just so rich and fresh. After you eat it, life will be better. You will start to smile more, you will dance a little bit, you will pick up your pets and hug them, you will yell to your neighbor who you never talked to across the street “Have a great day beautiful!”. It’s that good.

I made this applesauce with my nifty new toy, my Weston food strainer. It’s life changing. It peels, core sand deseeds for you, I love it dearly. Food mill if you are reading this, I love you. I bought it specifically for tomato season since every single year I question why I don’t have one, so I bit the bullet and bought it on Amazon on Saturday night and Monday morning at 8AM the Fedex man buzzed up and told me it was here. How did it get here so quick? So I did what you would expect me to do with a food mill I bought specifically for tomatoes, I made applesauce. I could not resist myself! I have a million (ok not that many, but alot) ideas on what to do with it next! There’s blueberry jam, mashed potatoes (I heard these are the best with the food strainer) and so many tomato inspired recipes! The strainer makes everything taste “smoother”, I’m head in heels IN LOVE with it.

(Isn’t she a beauty?)

In this recipe I included the instructions for a food strainer and without. If you’ve never used a food strainer and often make sauces, jams, baby food or juices, this is going to save you so much time! Use whatever kind of apples you want for this recipe. I used Red Delicious but in my opinion it’s hard to find a apple that doesn’t work for applesauce.

Things you can do with applesauce:
Eat plain. (my favorite way!)
Throw fruits on top, like blueberries (yum) or strawberries.
Add to your meatloaf, it makes it extra moist.
Bake with it – brownies and cookies especially!
Add it to your smoothie. (Additionally, you can freeze applesauce in ice cube trays too!)
Add to your oatmeal.
Peanut butter and applesauce sandwich!

Start out with you apples quartered. I was hoarding these apples to stay fresh in the fridge for much longer than I would like to admit. Applesauce, you saved the day!

Steam until soft… then off to the food strainer they go.

I’m left with 2 parts after I use the food strainer:

1. The strainer peels and cores it for you. Isn’t it amazing? And I have to say that the strainer does a better job at using much more of the apple if I was doing it by hand instead. I will compost these peels.

HOMEMADE Blueberry Jam made from 1 pint of blueberries! This easy to make no pectin, no sugar recipe is perfect for eating and canning. This healthy jam is delicious served over toast, pancakes, french toast and ice cream!

We’re jammin’, I wanna jam it wid you. We’re jammin’, jammin’, And I hope you like blueberry jammin’, too.

I was craving fresh blueberry jam but I didn’t want to make a big batch of it, in fact I wanted to make jam with just 1 pint of blueberries. Maybe you’ll pick fresh blueberries from your garden or maybe you’ll pick up a pint of blueberries from the farmers market, either way you can enjoy this easy and quick recipe.

I love spreading this blueberry jam on toast, muffins, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pancakes, french toast or more. It’s also delicious served over ice cream! However you serve it – I hope you enjoy it!

Do I need to say anything else when you read a title like that?
I mean there’s chocolate, there’s Nutella, they are in popsicle form. They will melt, they will run all over you, you will need to lick yourself clean. It’s a great situation to be in.

After posting about the sweltering heat a few days ago I decided to make some popsicles with these cute popsicle molds I bought a few summers ago. I was going to make a fruit popsicle, lemon or lime.. but then I had a chocolate craving (shocking). Remember Fudgesicles? They were great. So what happens when we take the idea of a fudgy popsicle and add creamy Nutella to it? You get a popsicle that will cause you to fall in love.

(Nutella – I love you).

Fact: We first ate these for dessert over the weekend. Minutes later Matthew and I were in a complete popsicle trance. We used plates below incase they melted (it’s really hot out) and then I noticed we both licked our plates clean. We’re meant for each other. We’re meant to be with these popsicles. Chocolate Nutella popsicles, I love you guys. Get in my belly.

The other wonderful thing is I used fat free milk so these came out to 150 calories a popsicle. I think that’s a pretty great deal as these are major for chocolate lovers. They will hit the spot. Your craving will be fulfilled. You will be very very very very happy.

THE BEST Fudgy Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies! These delicious brownies are my family’s favorite! They are easy to make and the avocado makes them more healthy than regular brownies!

I stock up sometimes in the supermarket with avocados because my mind is racing with so many ideas. Usually though I come home with multiple avocados and only use them for soup (this soup to be specific – it rules). With the heat on this July soup isn’t really in the cards, but my avocados were turning ripe quickly.

One problem, my beloved Matthew doesn’t like avocados. I’m a bad girl. A very bad girl. I apologize in advance.

I made these while he was working on the computer. I did it pretty secretly incase he would walk by. I hid my avocado pits and skin under the compost. I cleaned my bowls quickly. I sprayed gingerbread spray in the kitchen incase he would smell the avocado (I’m crazy). Once I had it mushed up a good bit, I was in the clear so I quickly covered it with the other ingredients to where it appeared like the usual brownie mix. Then I was brave. I needed a tester for my brownie mix so I held out a spoon to him. He ate it. I stared at him (too much). “Is it good?” I asked. He shook his head yes. “And than ate another spoonful.

I just lied to my other half. I’m sorry. I had to do it. Please forgive me. Sometimes you have to sacrifice things in a relationship and this is one of them.

Anyways – these brownies are amazing! They’re super fudgy and filled with avocado, chocolate and peanut butter! They are now a family favorite in my house – even if my family sometimes doesn’t know there’s avocado in them!

The chocolate chips are a key to this recipe because you put them into the mixture whole – not melted. As the brownies bake, the chocolate chips will melt which cause a intense decadence.

When they come out of the oven, let them cool. I know this is really hard to do because you just want to eat them but because they are so fudgy they need to cool off or they will fall apart. They are so fudgy delicious and definitely worth the wait!So eat one, go for it. You deserve it. Eat it with a fork. Eat it with a spoon. Eat it plain. Throw ice cream on top. Throw whip cream on top. Throw sprinkles on top. Just throw it in your mouth already.

What isn’t there to love about them? It’s peanut butter, it’s chocolate, it’s bite size, it makes me happy when I am sad, it is a dear friend.

Where did this obsession start? Well first, I am from Pennsylvania so trips to Hershey Park, a amusement park, were had every summer. And there at Hershey’s Park there are chocolate bars that walk around and hug you. Thanks Hershey’s for making me emotionally attached to chocolate, ever since I was a child.

Not only is Hershey Park a amusement park but it’s also home to CHOCOLATE WORLD, which is a “ride” where you sit down and are taken into darkness and shown a simulation of the chocolate making process. It’s air conditioned, it smells heavily of chocolate, when you finish you get a free Hershey’s bar, and then you can go buy a huggable size Hershey Kiss plush (I totally did). Hershey Park, it’s a good place, check it out if you are ever in the area.

Lately I have been craving Peanut Butter Cups. Like really bad. I had some Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream which usually does the trick (oh so good), but no, I wanted more. I wanted the real deal. Then I saw Joy put up a Peanut Butter Cups post .. and it got me thinking… and more thinking.. and more.. until I stopped my day and rushed to the kitchen, could I really make homemade Peanut Butter Cups? The answer is YES! Not only can you make homemade Peanut Butter Cups, but they are easy to make! And they taste real good. REAL REAL GOOD. If you could see the smile on my face you would understand my happiness and enthusiasm (and you would be slightly creeped out). The best thing about these Peanut Butter Cups is the peanut butter has grit, which we owe to the graham cracker crumbs. It’s not crunchy but it has that slight gritty taste that your beloved Reese’s cup has.

Give these a try next time you have a Peanut Butter Cup craving!

Here’s a full walk through:

Here’s all your ingredients you need. Pretty basic, right?

To get graham cracker crumbs we do it the old fashioned way, putting it in a bag and beating it up.

It’s a good stress reliever.

Get your mini muffin cups and double them up. We double them up because usually they are pretty thin and this will help hold up the weight of the peanut butter cup.

Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave. Careful, this is hot.

Fill up your muffin cups about 1/5 of the way with the melted chocolate. I also made one white chocolate one because I wanted to show you that you can make it that way too!

Then with your fingers (because we are fancy like that) roll them into little balls.

You want the balls to be the size to fit in the middle of each muffin cup but not touch the sides. We are eventually going to pour chocolate over and we want that to go down into the sides. This is like making a moat and the peanut butter is the castle. Great comparison, I know.

Then pour your chocolate on top of the peanut butter, making sure it goes down the sides.

If you have to push any of the chocolate down, use your fingers. This is a great excuse to eat more chocolate.

Then into the refrigerator they go, at least 1 hour until firm. I like to chill mine personally for a few hours, especially in the summer time.

And when it’s time.. you have chilly, firm, delicious Peanut Butter Cups!

When you unwrap them sometimes you will get a perfect chocolate one all the way around…

Sometimes you will get a peanut butter swirl one (I love how this looks).

And if you make it with white chocolate this is how it will look… tastes equally delicious!

Take your 24 mini muffin cups and double them up. You want your cups doubled up to hold the weight of the peanut butter cup.

Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, microwave for another 10 seconds.

Place a small amount of chocolate at the bottom of each muffin cup (about 1/5 of the cup).

Mix your graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and peanut butter together until you get a grainy mixture you can roll in your hands.

Make a mini peanut butter ball in your fingers and place on top of the chocolate in each cup. You want to make sure that the peanut butter ball is in the middle of the chocolate, it should still have a slight space around it where we can pour chocolate in.

Take the rest of your milk chocolate and pour on top of each peanut butter ball, getting the chocolate to go down into the edges.

Put in your refrigerator for at least 1 hour or until completely firm.

Find out why these banana muffins are the BEST and MOST POPULAR! These Mini and Moist Banana Muffins with crumb topping are the most delicious banana muffins you’ll ever taste! Since they’re mini, they’re great for a healthy breakfast on the go! This recipe has been made thousands of times – find out why people love them so much!

Bananas. Do you love them? I do. I’m in this routine where I eat 2-3 bananas, a day. It’s my snack and it makes me so happy. I have to buy 2 bunches a week at the store to keep up with my banana love.

Brown bananas though kind of freak me out. I can handle a little brown here or there, but when they go very brown and mushy, I can’t eat them with a spoon like some people do. So what to do? You can make a smoothie, that sounds good. Or you can make banana soft serve ice cream, also really good. Or you can make these Mini and Moist Banana Muffins!

These mini muffins are extremely moist. I was blown away by how soft they were inside. They have a banana taste to them, but it’s not overwhelming, although it’s still there. My husband who doesn’t like bananas at all kept saying “I don’t like bananas, but these are really good”. See, they win non banana lovers over too! I baked these and took them to a Game of Thrones season finale party and they were all gone by the end of the night. So bake them up and cheer on Jon Snow (optional, but I highly suggest it)! Or just bake them and eat them! 🙂

UPDATE: Since this recipe has gotten so much love over the years I finally updated with a video! Enjoy – and please share if you love the muffins!

No Bake Oreo Birthday Cake Batter Squares recipe that only needs 4 ingredients. They are perfect for when it’s too hot to bake!

The last few days have been really hot in NYC. Weather that you definitely don’t want to turn your oven on for! So what’s a girl to do when she’s craving pies, cakes, brownies and breads? 2 words “no bake”. In the summer we should have a rule, only turn the oven on if we are making pizza. Any blog post that ever has the words “no bake” on it, I will click, read, comment that I love you.. because I truly do. So let’s embrace these no bake cake batter treats.

Do you know how much I love cake batter? No. Well let me tell you.. I love cake batter!

I can eat cake batter brownies, cookies, cupcakes, cake, pudding, popcorn, milkshakes. If it begins with the word “cake batter” I’m in 100%. I even (guiltily) enjoy a bowl of just cake batter, to be enjoyed with a spoon, or your tongue as you look around to make sure noone is watching you act like a human dishwasher (totally ok, do it all the time, I’ve even been caught a few times, just ignore it and keep going).

Now you can call them blondies if you want, but I’m going to go with brownies because it feels more comfortable. A vanilla brownie, let’s call it that. Or a albino brownie, we can do that. I’ve googled this brownie vs blondie debate and the wounds go deep with those on both sides, but I think we can come together and just enjoy this. Let’s just call this amazing, because that’s what it is. I am pretty sure these bake batter brownies can stop wars. In fact, I am going to send a letter to the White House letting them know of this. Thank me later POTUS!

The other great thing is these can be stored for about a week, but seriously – these won’t even last 3 days. If I stop by, 2 days at the most! Beep Beep, one cake batter monster coming through…

To this beautiful mixture. Now take a spoon and eat it. I’m kidding. No, I’m not. Really, I’m not.

Then add your white chocolate chips and sprinkles. This amount of color makes my day happier.

Mix it all around. Get those sprinkles and chocolate chips mixed in there.

And then take another spoonful because you’ve been a very good (bad) girl.

Then before you eat all the cake batter, put it in a baking dish. I used a 11x9ish dish and I feel this made them just the right amount of soft and gooey that I wanted. Put in the oven.

Now wonder around your house while cake batter fills the air. During this time I like to lay near the kitchen, close my eyes and enter a magical world of rainbow happiness.
And when it’s time…

These gorgeous cake batter brownies will appear!

You want to keep them in the oven just until the edges are very slightly brown. 25-30 minutes, mine took 26 minutes to be very exact.

Then let them cool. During this time just sit near them and stare lovingly at them.

Cats will show up and marvel at the wonder you just created! Then hug your cats because this is a great day.

Don’t you just love how it bubbles up slightly around the edges to give it a nice soft crust? Oh it’s lovely.

When they’re cool, you can cut into brownies. You can cut the into small squares or go big.
Then serve yourself one as soon as possible. It’s like when you’re on a airplane and they tell you to first put the oxygen mask on yourself, then your child. This is the same exact thing. You eat the first cake batter brownie. Children come later.

Can we talk about how gooey the middles are? It’s the perfect combination. The edges are firm, enough to cut and move around, but the middles still have that cake batter that brings sunshine to my life.
Hello Pretty Princess!

When Matthew got home, the first thing he asked was “What is that smell?”. I answered “Perfection”. Then smiled creepily because I was in a sweet high coma.

These are perfect for parties, dessert after dinner, a gift to your friend (you can sneak one two before giving) or just a Thursday because Wednesday wasn’t a good day.

And when there’s only one left, please wrestle anyone in your way to get it!

These Homemade Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are about to become your new favorite breakfast, snack and dessert! This is a healthy copycat recipe for Quaker Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Granola Bars. Are there any words more beautiful?

After I made the first batch of chocolate chip granola bars, my mind started to wonder to the wonderful world of peanut butter. Soon later it floated to the island of pretzels. There peanut butter pretzel chocolate chip granola bars was born.

About these delightful bars:

Do you enjoy chocolate + salty at the same? I do! These are for you.
Do you like a bit of crunch in your granola bars? I do! These are for you.
These are dangerous to have around your house. Proceed with caution.
I don’t listen to my own advise and made multiple batches. We annihilated these batches.
I have given these to friends as a “hey you are pretty cool” gift. Friends swoon.
After the first time I made them I declared “These might be the best thing I ever made”.

So now I present you.. the future love of your life that will always be there for you, Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Granola Bars.

Here’s all the ingredients you need! Note: When I use peanut butter in recipes like this I usually get the cheap stuff and don’t use my gourmet peanut butter cinnamon swirl magic that I usually eat on bread. The cheap stuff does the job for these, very well!

Do you love pretzels as much as I do?

We need these chopped though, so I put them in a baggie and get a potato masher and just take out all my frustration on these poor pretzels.

Add your pretzels with your quick oats and cereal.

And give it a good stir to mix everything around.

Now we create the delicious peanut butter cream. When making this unicorns will arrive at your home, sparkles will fall, the clouds will open, rainbows appear. I’m not kidding. This creates magic.

Take this magical peanut butter mixture and add it to your oats/pretzels/cereal.

Now mix, mix, mix, mix. Nope, still not done, mix it more. Make sure every single piece of oat, cereal and pretzel is sticky. This is going to hold everything together. Think of it as a glue that you can eat.

Then put it in your pan and pat it down with a spatula so it’s flat.

Add your chocolate chips and push them down too. You want them inserted in the granola mixture.

Now you throw them in the fridge for 1 hour while walking around anxiously whispering “hurry up, hurry up, hurry up”. You can even lay in the middle of the floor and whisper this.

And when they’re ready, HOLY MOLY.

Cut them into granola bar sizes, or squares if you’d like.

While cutting the bars I smile nonstop.

I also smile inside because my belly is waiting for this..

The granola bars are firm and hardly crumble at all.

When you flip it upside down you will see there’s good pretzel distribution as well.

These granola bars are hard to just eat one. I’m warning you.

I wrapped some up and gave to friends. Friends will have a hard time just eating one at a time. Warn them!

And then 2 days later I made a double 9×13 batch because I like to live life on the wild side and can’t get enough of these!

Two weekends ago Matthew had a craving for a childhood favorite, Chi-Chi’s fried ice cream. Does everyone remember Chi-Chi’s? It was a popular Mexican chain restaurant. In 2004 Chi-Chi’s closed all their restaurants after many incidents, but their salsa can still be found in stores. As a kid I remember going to Chi-Chi’s quite fondly with my parents, Matthew’s memories are the same. One of the best memories of this trip for him was the fried ice cream. I never had fried ice cream (ever) so I was intrigued by his description of it. After he linked me to many pictures of the ice cream online with lots of happy faces and love hearts, I got the hint: I had to make him fried ice cream. Because it was his birthday soon enough, I promised him for his birthday I would have him a fried ice cream sundae. With a little practice, I think I got it just right. I asked Matthew to supply a quote of what he thought of it and he told me “magical cinnamon crisp amazingment”. So let’s make some…

Few things:
Working with ice cream and taking pictures is not easy. I felt a little stressed out.
You can serve the ice cream in a bowl, but to get the true authentic feeling try serving in a tortilla bowl – I included directions below for that too.
This post is picture heavy because ice cream is so pretty.
I made this for his birthday dinner, and then the next day made it for a afternoon snack. Please stop me.

Grab your vanilla ice cream. Try to get it out of the freezer right when you’re ready to begin.

Scoop 1 to 2 inch balls of ice cream.

Drop into corn flake mixture and roll around. I like to pat them with my hands to roll into a more “perfect” ball shape.

Throw on your cookie sheet that you have wax paper down on. Now you have to work quick, time is not on your side.

I made enough ice cream balls for 2 big sundaes.

Ok, they are starting to melt, but one more picture quick.

Ok into the freezer, now let them set for at least 1 hour.

If you have a deep fryer – 350 degrees.
If you don’t have a deep fryer like me, you can totally do this on the stove. If I had a deep fryer I would make french fries and bbq wings every single day so it’s best I don’t have one.

Grab a thermometer and put it in the pot, I use a candy thermometer as it goes high. You need to know when the oil is 350 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, throw a piece of corn kernel in the oil and when it pops into popcorn, then you know it’s 350 and ready to go.

Now this takes some time to get this hot. Mine takes about 15-20 minutes of crazily watching the thermometer.

225.. 125 degrees to go. Please be careful with this, the oil is spitting a bit and is very very very hot.
Once it’s 350 degrees, drop a ice cream ball into the oil for 1-2 seconds. Yes, that quick! Do not do any longer or it will melt. You literally drop it in, pull it right back out with a spoon.

I like to put them directly on a paper towel to get the excess oil off. Then you start to build your sundae. Again you should do this pretty quickly, but the ice cream won’t melt as fast once it’s been fried so you have a little more time.

Throw your fried ice cream balls into your tortilla bowl.

Spray whip cream on top. Matthew then took the whip cream canister and squirted more in his mouth. Boys. Girls would never do that (ahem).

Oh and Hershey’s chocolate syrup! We got the “Lite” version because obviously we are worried about our figures when are eating fried ice cream with whip cream on top.

Add a cherry! Please do! Add 2 if you’d like! Add 3!

Oh baby, baby, then just spoon it into your mouth. Just take a minute and enjoy this.

You beautiful ice cream you.

Keep spooning it in. Crack off some of the tortilla shell, use that as a spoon too. Go wild.

To make the tortilla shell bowl, it’s quite easy. Grab a 10 inch flour tortilla and lightly spray both sides with cooking spray.

Grab a cupcake pan and turn it upside down.

Push your tortillas into the cupcake so it touches 4 of the cupcake holders. Press it down – this is what shape your tortilla bowl will become.

Put it into the oven. (Omg, my oven is a mess, I know, embarrassed, but think about how much love it’s received, we spill too much corn meal for pizza). You want to keep a eye on these, generally mine usually take 12 minutes, so watch yours anywhere from 9-12 minutes. Once they have a slightly brown edge, they’re done.

When they come out of the oven, you’ll see how they have hardened. Let them cool so you can touch them.

Easy to make homemade chocolate chip granola bars! They taste just like Quaker Granola bars but are made with simple, healthy ingredients!

We love Quaker Granola bars in this house! Our favorite are the chocolate chip bars, which are great for a quick snack. I can’t tell you the amount of boxes that we have bought in the past years. One thing though I’ve never liked, the price. A box of granola bars usually ranges in the $4-$5 range which is pretty expensive considering it’s made with pretty basic ingredients. So before I would go to the store and buy more, I decided to try to make my own. I’m so glad I did because not only are they (much) cheaper, but I find them more filling. Plus it’s a great feeling knowing every single ingredient (and being able to pronounce them) that’s going into them.

These are easy and quick to make! The part that takes the most time is letting them set. If you’re a fan of these, I recommend making a few batches at once to save on the dirty dishes. Bonus: You can also freeze granola bars!